HPD's K-9 officers to get OT pay in settlement deal

JAMES PINKERTON, Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle

Published
5:30 am CDT, Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Houston Police canine officers will receive 1.5 hours overtime weekly for weekend and holiday care for their police dogs, part of a settlement of a federal lawsuit approved Wednesday by the City Council.

The city's 50 canine officers sued the city last July because of a wage and hour dispute for weekend duties, following a settlement in 1995 that paid some canine officers a flat fee for extra duties relating to dog care, city attorney David Feldman said.

The settlement also continues $150-a-month assignment pay for canine officers, gives those officers an hour during each work shift to care for their dogs and waives a $160 monthly payment officers previously paid the city for taking their patrol units home.

"The law is the law, and all of this is just about complying with the law," Feldman said .

The Houston Police Officer's Union brought the lawsuit, noting the city has a legal obligation to pay officers to care for their dogs.

"The city is required by law to compensate canine officers for the time they spend at home, off duty, carrying for their animals, which are both city property and a very valuable tool for the city," said Chad Hoffman, staff counsel for HPOU.

The settlement will cost the city $270,000 yearly overtime costs for canine officers, and it requires the city to give the same benefits to new canine officers. It also includes an award of 104 hours of compensatory time to about 33 canine officers who were not part of the original lawsuit, Feldman said.

Hoffman said it was not unreasonable to expect officers to be paid for caring for a city-owned dog.

"This isn't a motorcycle that you can take home and sit in the garage. It's a living, breathing animal that requires care 24 hours a day," he said.